Russia tried to steal Hillary Clinton’s emails ‘for the first time’ hours after Trump asked if they were listening

President Donald Trump infamously asked Russia — if they were listening — to help find Hillary Clinton’s emails, and a new indictment shows their intelligence agents tried.

Special counsel Robert Mueller obtained an indictment Friday against 12 Russian intelligence officers accused of hacking the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the 2016 campaign and posting them online through Guccifer 2.0 and DC Leaks, which investigators confirmed were fronts for Russian agents.

The indictment shows that Russia first tried to hack into Clinton’s email system the same evening that Trump publicly asked them to during a July 27, 2016, news conference.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said at the time. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

Trump has steadfastly denied that Russia had anything to do with the hacks, despite the findings of U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and now alleged in the grand jury indictment.

That indictment shows Russian agents tried to break into an email system used by Clinton and her associates that same day.

“The Conspirators spearphised individuals affiliated with the Clinton Campaign throughout the summer of 2016,” the indictment says.

“For example, on or about July 27, 2016,” prosecutors said, “the Conspirators after hours to spearphish for the first time email accounts at a domain hosted by a third-party provider and used by Clinton’s personal office. At or around the same time, they also targeted seventy-six email addresses at the domain for the Clinton campaign.”

July 27, 2016, Trump: "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing."Indictment: That evening, Russian operatives targeted Clinton campaign emails "for the first time." pic.twitter.com/fanyaAxwfJ